Textile shipping package



Nov. 5, 1963 F. E. KLIMPL TEXTILE SHIPPING PACKAGE Filed Feb. 15, I96115 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. F RED E. KL/MPL ,4 T ram/z rs F. E. KLIMPL-TEXTILE SHIPPING PACKAGE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. FRED E. KL/MPL A TTORNEJ/S Nov. 5, 1963 Filed Feb. 15, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb.15, 1961 Q H H ilmwl l l IN I {P a N H WH I H H W iulll l 3 w y I w xig-j.

INVENTOR. FRED E. K1. IMPL BY m4 A TTOIP/VA-VS Patented Nov. 5, 19633,109,540 TEXTILE SHIPPHNG PACKAGE red E. Klimpl, Jersey City, Ni,assignor to Owens- Corning Fiberglas Corporation, a corporation ofDelaware Filed Feb. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 88,830 5 Claims. ((31. 266-65)This invention relates to a package for shipping and storing textilestrands, yarns or rovings. More particularly this invention provides apackage for shipping and in process storage of spools or balls ofmultifilament glass textile irovings.

In recent years composite materials of many types have come to theforefront. Among the most widely used of these composite materials areorganic and inorganic resins reinforced with glass textile fibers.

Textile fibers of glass are produced by melting glass in a feeder thathas many small orifices in the bottom. The molten glass from the feederflows through these orifices and is attenuated into continuous filamentsby a revolving mandrel located below the feeder. The continuousfilaments are gathered in groups or strands of, for example 204filaments, before reaching the mandrel and the multifilament strand isthereupon collected about the attenuating mandrel. This multi-filamentstrand is the basic element from which glass yarns and r'ovings areformed by collecting, twisting, plying, etc., to construct any of anumber of textile forms adapted to meet the demands of particular enduses.

Often, in order to form a more readily handleable textile material foruse in reinforcing resins, several multifilament strands are groupedtogether in parallel side-byside relationship to form a roving having inthe order of forty or more strands. Such roving material may be Wound inthe form of alarge package or ball weighing, for

xample, 35 pounds or more, which may then be placed in a carton forshipmen Sometimes the strand of continuous filaments being attenuatedfrom the feeder is looped back and forth upon itself and twisted to forma bulky pseudo spun roving as of the type described in U.S. Patents2,719,350 and 2,719;

352. By regulating the ratio of the speed of the attenuating rolls tothe speed of the collecting or twisting mechanism, the bulk of theroving or the number of strands that appear to compose the roving can becontrolled.

These parallel and spun rovings are used in a variety of operations forproducing reinforced plastics. Such operations include chopping therovings into short lengths to form a chopped fiber mat which is laid inthe mold with the resin. The roving is also sometimes drawn from theball into which it is wound and is fed directly to a resinfiber spraygun that chops it into short lengths and simultaneously deposits theshort lengths of strands, a resinous matrix, and the necessary amount ofcatalyst onto a mold. Another operation comprises drawing these rovingsfrom the package halls, chopping them, and then depositing the choppedstrands on a forarninous mold that conforms generally to the shape ofthe article desired. The preformed massof chopped filaments is thenplaced in a mold and the necessary amount of resinous matrix is addedand cured to form the reinforced resinous article. Roving material isalso used in unchopped form by drawing it from the ball, continuouslyimpregnating it by dip passage into a pool of resin, and then drawingthe impregnated roving through a die to remove the excess resin, andcuring the composite to form a reinforced plastic rod.

Often when producing the roving one of the strands or filaments iscolored with suitable dye, or a colored organic or glass yarn is addedto the roving to serve as a marker or tracer element which enables theoperator of a preforming machine or resin-fiber spray gun to quickly andaccurately gauge by eye the quantity of glass fibers being deposited onthe mold. Also, during the manufacturing of the roving a catalyst oraccelerator can be coated onto the strands to eliminate need forpro-mixing of an accelerator therein. In this way the resin is not mixedwith the catalyst or accelerator until it comes in contact with the cutglass strand and accordingly it will not polymerize or set up in thestorage vessel and will have a greatly prolonged pot life.

By using strands composed of hollow glass filaments when manufacturingthe roving, it is possible to markedly decrease the specific gravity ofthe reinforced resinous composite so that it will float. The openings inthe center of such filaments can be made so small that the surfacetension of the resin will prevent its flowing into the openings. Becauseof the difference between the indexes of refraction of glass and air,any rays of light passing through such a composite will be reflected andretracted many times and thus cause the composite to be opaque.Opaqueness in a fibrous reinforced composite can also be obtained bymixing air into a small amount of the resin to form small bubblestherein and then laminating the resin-air mixture to the surface of thecomposite before the matrix has cured so that it becomes an integralpart of the composite. Such an opaque til-m applied as a layer of thecomposite also decreases its specific gravity.

Heretofore, such rovings were generally placed in individual cartons bythe manufacturer and shipped to the fabricator who would remove themfrom their carton and place them in a supply bank or creel. Dilficultiesarise, however, in that creeling operations require considerable timeand it is necessary for the fabricator to either rethread the loom orchopper after each ball has been exhausted or expend a considerableamount of time tying or splicing the individual balls together afterplacing them on the creel. Further, after the individual balls had beenre moved from their shipping cartons and placed on the creel, theybecome contaminated with dirt from the surrounding area, or the outerlayers or winds become loose and entangled, thereby rendering efiicientunwinding of the balls extremely difficult. Also, since each ball ofroving is shipped in a separate carton it is necessary for thefabricator to supply means for disposing of numerous cartons.

Furthermore, the relatively small size of the individual r ving packagesnecessitates frequent re-creeling or transfer to the forming area.Attempts to eliminate these problems by supplying larger balls of rovinghave been for the most part commercially unsuccessful since the largeballs are not easily handled by the fabricating personnel.

In brief, the present invention provides an improved method of packagingrovings, strands, yarns, etc., Wherein several individual textilepackages or balls are placed in a larger carton type package and therovings, strands, yarns, etc., on the individual balls within thepackage are stacked and aligned and tied together mechanically o-rspliced chemically to permit continuous, uninterrupted, free Withdrawalof either one or more ends of the roving rfrom the balls until thematerial in the carton is completely consumed.

An object of this invention is to provide a more efiic-ient andeconomical pack-age than has existed heretofore for storing and shippinglarge quantities of textile materials.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel arrangement forassembling textile balls within a shipping package which will facilitatethe easy uninterrupted withdrawal of the material therefrom.

An advantage of this invention is the elimination of the necessity todispose of the numerous empty individual cartons.

Another advantage of this invention is the ease with which a largequantity of roving can be handled and shipped.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparentwhen reference is made to the following description and drawings inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a partially cut-away isometric View of the package of thisinvention; and 7 FIGURE 2 is a cut-away view of the package of thisinvention illustrating more clearly the arrangement by which the woundballs are joined together in the package of FIGURE 1 to permitcontinuous withdrawal of a single strand therefrom; and

FIGURE 3 illustrates a modified arrangement of the package of FIGURE 2which permits simultaneous withdrawal of two or more strands of rovingwhere desired in specific processing operations.

It will be apparent as this description of the invention proceeds thatit may be successfully employed in the packaging of filaments, strands,yarns and rovings, cords and ropes made of any of a number of organic,inorganic, natural and synthetic materials including cotton, wool,asbestos, nylon, rayon, acrylic and polyester fibers, etc. However, thisinvention has been developed for and will be described with reference toproviding an improved packaging and shipping arrangement for balls ofrovings of materials such as glass filaments where such material issubsequently to be incorporated as reinforcing material in a resinousmatrix.

7 As shown in FIGURE 1, several balls of roving It) are placed in largecardboard cartons 11 for shipment. These large, shipping cartons are thesame width as the ball of roving and are divided into numerouscompartments by horizontal and vertical cardboard or kraft paperdividers.

or separators 12 and 14. Each ball of roving is packed in a separatecompartment to prevent rubbing or chafing of adjacent balls andconsequent weakening or breaking of the filaments that compose theroving or entanglement of the rovings themselves. To promote easyshipment, enough of these large shipping cartons are grouped on astandard wooden shipping pallet 15 and a common cover 16 is placed overthe top of the group of cartons to hold them in place during shipment.The individual balls of roving, if desired, may be wrapped or bagged inkraft 7 paper, polyethylene, etc., to protect them against handlingdamage and correspondingly to prevent sloughing, shelling loosening, orslipping of the outer winds of roving'during shipment. Rovings ofparallel continuous filaments are especially prone to this type ofdamage. Various other ways of restraining the outer windings andprotecting them from slipping and chafing have been proposed, includingenclosing the individual balls in resinous films such as polyethylenefilm bags which may be heat shrunk to securely hold the outer windingsin place. Here, as when the kraft paper is wrapped around them, the twoends of the roving are positioned so they extend from the bag tofacilitate their being easily tied to other balls of rovings.

The individual balls of roving are commonly wound cylindrically with theleading end on the inside of the balls and they are placed uprightwithin the carton so that it may be easily grasped and the balls unwoundfrom the inside out. The planar separators 12 that prevent the chafingof adjacent balls ofroving in a column are preferablymade of cardboardor other soft material and U-shaped in design. The cut out in the centerpermits the balls of roving to be placed in the shipping carton 7 afterthey have been connected together.- The cut-away portion of theseparators must be large enough that they do not interfere with theunwinding of the balls from the inside out or the transfer to or theremoval of the roving fromthe lower balls. In order to assure that theydo not 7 suitable knot.

so interfere, it is preferred that they be cut away at least 7 as far asthe center of the balls.

Provision is made for the folding of the separators up and out of theway for easy removal of the roving in the lower balls by hinging themfrom one side of the carton. By cutting the separators on a bias beforethey are fastened to the side wall, it is possible to stress them byforcing them down while the balls of roving are being placed in thecontainer so that they will pop up in parallel to the side wall afterthe ball above them has been exhausted. They are then out of the way andwill not interfere with the removal of the roving from the lower balls.If each of the individual balls of roving is adequately protected bywrapping, it is possible to eliminate the vertical separators 14 andunder low loading conditions even the horizontal ones 12.

The carton 11 is constructed so that one major face and the top may beremoved leaving'the bottom, one major side, minor sides, and horizontaland vertical dividers intact. With the major face and top removed thecarton may be easily filled by connecting the balls of roving togetherand then placing them in the carton. Also, the balls can be placed inthe carton and then connected together or, if during removal of therovings from the carton, the roving should break, it can be easilyreached for restarting.

By tying or splicing the trailing ends of the balls of roving to theleading end of the following ball of roving as shown in FIGURE 2 it ispossible to withdraw all of the roving from all of the balls in theshipping carton by merely grasping the interior or starting end of thefirst ball and pulling. The first or starting ball 18 is positioned inthe upper corner of the package so its inner end 19 can be easilyreached after removing the top of the carton to facilitate theWithdrawal of the roving from the ball. The

outer end or tail 20 of the roving ball 18 extends over the top of thekraft paper wrapping and is tied or spliced to the leading or inner end22 of the roving ball 21 located immediately below it. Thus, when thefirst ball of roving 18 has been completely exhausted, the transfer willbe made automatically to the second ball of roving 21. The transfer tothe third ball of roving 24 will be made in the the same manner becausethe outer or trailing edge of the second ball will be connected to theleading or inner end of the third ball. The vertical divider lz thatprevents chafing of balls of roving in the column are preferablyU-shaped so that after the upper ball of roving has been exahusted thetransfer to and Withdrawal of roving from V gether to permit a completeremoval of all of the roving from the package without fishing for theend to another ball after one ball of roving has been exhausted. Thatis, the balls of roving in vertical columns are tied together end-to-eudto permit a continued withdrawal of roving and transfer fromball-to-ball down the column with the trailing end of the bottom ballbeing connected to the leading end of the top ball of roving in anothercolumn;

The trailing end 28 of the last ball of roving 2) in the last column isgenerally secured to the inner face of the carton near the top to permitit to be readily located and connected to the first ball of roving inanother carton and thereby efficiently make a transfer to the secondcarton.

The halls ofroving are generally tied together with a I If one is usedthat will come undone as it passes through the chopper the necessity forpicking the knots from'finished preform, etc, will be eliminated. By

using a splicing material that is compatible with the resin to be usedand will therefore dissolve therein the need for removing knots from thepreform etc, can be eliminated.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the use of this type of package to supply severalrovings 3b to a preforrning machine 35 or other fabricating machinery.The severing mechanism 31 pulls the rovings from the package and cutsthem into short lengths. The short lengths of the cut rovings are fedthruogh a tube into an opening in the top of the foriring chamber of thepreform machine. They are dispersed within the forming chamber andcollected on a revolving forarninous mold 33 located on the bottom ofthe forming chamber.

Several rovings can be simultaneously pulled from this package and stillutilize its automatic ball-to-ball transfer characteristics. To convertthis package to one from which several ends of roving can besimultaneously with drawn, it is necessary merely to sever the trailingends from the bottom balls of roving near the place they are connectedto the leading end of a top ball of roving and then feed the freeleading ends 35 from the top balls of roving to the severing mechnaism.

As shown, the trailing ends 32 from the bottom balls of roving in eachcolumn are not connected to the top balls of roving in adjacent columns,but are left hanging loose in the carton. By severing them near the topball of roving, it is possible to place them so that they may be readilyreached and connected to the leading end of balls of roving in othercartons. Thus, by connecting the balls of roving together in verticalcolumns it is possible to separate the columns into individual feedingunits and simultaneously pull more than one end of roving from eachcarton. This ease of convertibility from a package adapted for thewithdrawal of just one end of roving to a package adapted for thesimultaneous Withdrawal of more than one end makes it possible for themanufacturer to maintain an inventory of only one type of package andstill satisfy the requirements of customers who desire a supply sourcewhich will provide just one end of roving and other customers who prefera creel type package to simultaneously supply several ends of roving.

it is apparent that, within the scope of the invention, modificationsand different arrangements may be made other than is herein disclosed,and the present disclosure is illustrative merely, the inventioncomprehending all variations thereof.

I claim:

1. A shipping package comprising a walled container filled with woundpackages of strand-like material, said wound packages being arranged invertical columns within said walled container, horizontal planar membersseparating adjacent packages in each of said columns, said horizontalplanar members being of U-shaped configuration and each being hinged toone Wall of said container, each of said wound packages having a leadingand a trailing end, the trailing end of each of said Wound packagesbeing connected to the leading end of the Wound package immediatelythereunder and the trailing end of all but one of the bottommostpackages in said shipping package being individually connected to theleading end of a wound package at the top of another column wherebyautomatic transfer from each package to another throughout the completeshipping package during Withdrawal of the strand-like material from saidshipping package, and the trailing end of the remaining bottom packagebeing secured to a wall of said container in a readily accessiblelocation at the top of said container.

2. The shipping package of claim 1 wherein each of the leading ends ofsaid wound packages is an inside end of the ball for unwinding of eachpackage from the inside out.

3. A shipping package for strand-like forms of fibrous materialcomprising a wallet! container filled with wound packages of suchmaterial, each of said packages being generally cylindrically shaped andhaving an inside lead ing end and an outside trailing end, said packagesbeing stacked upright in vertical columns within said walled container,U-shaped package separating members hinged to a sidewall of saidcontainer and projecting between adjacent p ckages within the columns,said separators being held in horizontal stressed condition by saidpackages and being free to spring up after removal of the packagethereabove to provide unobstructed unwinding of the package therebelow,the trailing end of each package being connected to the leading end ofthe package: immediately below and the trailing end of all but one ofthe packages in the bottom layer in said container being individuallyconnected to the leading end of the top package in an adjacent column.

4. A shipping package comprising a walled container filled with woundtextile packages of strand-like material arranged generally in verticalcolumns, each of said packages being separated from the other packagesin said container and being of the type adapted to being unwound Withoutremoval from said shipping package, U-shaped protective dividers withinsaid container extending between said packages and isolating them fromone another, said U-shaped dividers being hinged to one of the fourvertical walls so that it can pivot upward so as not to interfere withthe extraction of the strands from the package therebelow the trailingend of each of said textile packages being connected to the leading endof the package immediately below it, and the trailing end of all but oneof the bottom packages being individually connected to the leading endof a top package in another column.

5. A shipping package comprising a walled container filled with Woundpackages of strand-like material, said Wound packages being arrangedgenerally in vertical columns within said Walled container, horizontalplanar members extending between adjacent packages in each of saidcolumns to separate them, each of said horizontal planar members beinghinged to one wall of said container and having an opening thereinextending to the free edge of said separator opposite the hinge, each ofsaid Wound packages having a leading end and a trailing end, thetrailing end of each wound package being connected to the leading end ofthe Wound package immediately thereunder and the trailing end of all butone of the bottommost packages in said Walled container beingindividually connected to the leading end of a wound package at the topof another column to effect automatic transfer from each package toanother throughout the complete Walled container during Withdrawal ofthe strandlike material therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,119,238 Brown Dec. 1, 1914 2 1,364,987 'Fleming Ian. 11, 19211,762,583 Paradise June 10, 1930 1,809,029 Eulcher June 9, 19311,937,468 Talbot Nov. 28, 1933 2,148,860 Huber Feb. 28, 1939 2,561,699Hoyle July 24, 1951

1. A SHIPPING PACKAGE COMPRISING A WALLED CONTAINER FILLED WITH WOUNDPACKAGES OF STRAND-LIKE MATERIAL, SAID WOUND PACKAGES BEING ARRANGED INVERTICAL COLUMNS WITHIN SAID WALLED CONTAINER, HORIZONTAL PLANAR MEMBERSSEPARATING ADJACENT PACKAGES IN EACH OF SAID COLUMNS, SAID HORIZONTALPLANAR MEMBERS BEING OF U-SHAPED CONFIGURATION AND EACH BEING HINGED TOONE WALL OF SAID CONTAINER, EACH OF SAID WOUND PACKAGES HAVING A LEADINGAND A TRAILING END, THE TRAILING END OF EACH OF SAID WOUND PACKAGESBEING CONNECTED TO THE LEADING END OF THE WOUND PACKAGE IMMEDIATELYTHEREUNDER AND THE TRAILING END OF ALL BUT ONE OF THE BOTTOMMOSTPACKAGES IN SAID SHIPPING PACKAGE BEING INDIVIDUALLY CONNECTED TO THELEADING END OF A WOUND PACKAGE AT THE TOP OF ANOTHER COLUMN WHEREBYAUTOMATIC TRANSFER FROM EACH PACKAGE TO ANOTHER THROUGHOUT THE COMPLETESHIPPING PACKAGE DURING WITHDRAWAL OF THE STRAND-LIKE MATERIAL FROM SAIDSHIPPING PACKAGE, AND THE TRAILING END OF THE REMAINING BOTTOM PACKAGEBEING SECURED TO A WALL OF SAID CONTAINER IN A READILY ACCESSIBLELOCATION AT THE TOP OF SAID CONTAINER.